Customer Reviews

XML for the World Wide Web

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

With over 60 new books on XML set for release in the year 2000, it seems like another XML book would not be that big of a deal.

Well, that might be true if it were an XML book from anyone other than Elizabeth Castro and Peachpit Press.

Castro, the author of two other bestsellers, HTML for the World Wide Web and Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web has the rare gift of being able to take extremely complex subjects and render them into understandable terms for just about anyone. In her newest book, XML for the World Wide Web, Castro scores a direct hit in being able to convey the ins and outs of XML and all of its aspects in a way that makes it unique, usable and useful.

Castro tackles Schemas, DTDs, Namespaces, XPath, Xlink, Xpointer, XSLT, CSS used with XML and just about everything else being discussed, implemented, debated, planned or argued in the constantly changing world of XML. That's not unusual for an XML book. However, Castro actually pulls it off extremely well, resulting in a very very very good book for those about to immerse themselves in the complexities of XML. That is unusual. Many XML purists will point to Simon St. Laurent's "XML:A Primer" and Benoit Marchal's "XML by Example" as being definitive "first XML books." I would agree, to a point. I have both of those and they are indeed excellent 5-star books but I honestly think that Castro's book will be more digestible to more people not well-versed in XML.

Critics, if any, might argue that XML for the World Wide Web is too basic or doesn't cover this topic in extreme detail that way or this way. That's not the point of this book. If you are already working in XML, you'll probably have a shelf full of advanced Wrox or Que or O'Reilly books on XML anyway that are very detailed. No, this book is truly for those just starting out who want to or need to actually learn XML and how to use it. And in that capacity, it succeeds on a grand scale.

Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web, now in its 4th edition, has become an industry standard. It can be found in every bookstore across the US and in many many college classrooms. Her Perl & CGI book accomplished the same thing for its target audience. I think that it can be said that XML for the World Wide Web will achieve the same lofty status, becoming the third jewel in Castro's triple crown.

I have no gripes at all with this book. But, I do have one suggestion that doesn't detract from the excellence of this work. In XML for the World Wide Web, Castro devotes Appendix A to XHTML. My only suggestion would be that perhaps she should instead consider making the 5th Edition of her HTML book an XHTML book, since HTML 4.01 was superseded by XHTML 1.0 almost a year ago. But again, that's only a suggestion.

In conclusion: XML for the World Wide Web...great price, great book, future standard!

I recommend it highly to those in the early stages of their XML careers.

Although I'm not personally an XML beginner, so perhaps my perspective is a bit skewed, I recently had to come up with a full-day tutorial on XML, for Microsoft Office developers, all XML beginners. In preparing the various topics, I came across this book (actually, I had read Ms. Castro's HTML 4 book and liked it, as well), and found it to be at a perfect level for my students. I based my basic XML, namespaces, and XSD sessions of the day on the corresponding chapters in this book, and found the descriptions of "how" and "why" to be very useful, complete, and lucid. I recommended the book to the students, and they, too, found it useful. I heartily recommend this book for people trying to get the basics of XML down pat. It's not a book for experienced developers, or people who already "get" these topics, but that wasn't its point. If you're trying to get up and running with XML, I haven't found any other book that makes it so simple.

Elizabeth Castro's Book is written in a very clear and precise style. She doesn't attempt to explain absolutely everything about XML - it shows you how to write and then put XML into web pages, which she covers very thoroughly; if you want any more detailed info such as ASP and XML, the DOM etc. go buy those thick tomes that deal with those topics specifically.

This book was perfect for my needs. I have been reading snippets all over the web about XML for months now but nowhere had enough detail - this book takes you through how to set out your information and then put it up.

Even though this is an area of "shifting sands" in terms of finalised standards she is bang up to date.

There is no doubt that XML is going to be the NBT (Next Big Thing) - get in there at ground level and read this book.

If you want an excellent introductory yet very practical primer this is ideal.

Leon Cych

The best way to teach a beginner (myself) how to write code is to consistently illustrate the code with examples that can be modified and used in various circumstances. As she has stated in the introduction of the book, this is not an advanced book on XLM for developers but a project manager's book to understand the language of the developers when they are talking and even understand the code being developed.

This book follows the same type of verbiage and examples from her previous book, HTML 4, so the transition from very easy. This book delves into the basics of XLM, DTD, Schema, XLST, Cascading Style Sheets and some more topics for the reader to discover.

The price of the book is affordable for anyone trying to step into the new World of XML.

Have fun coding.

I normally don't like to purchase a book until I've thumbed through it at the bookstore first, but after reading the reviews given to this book, I figured this is one time I couldn't go wrong (this is one time I should have judged the book by its cover). I have minimal XML experience, with no real coding or design time with it under my belt.

My first impression on recieving the book was disappointment, as the cover read 'This Visual Quickstart Guide uses pictures rather than lengthy explanations'! Upon opening the book, I was rather disappointed to find this was true....fully 1/2 of the book (the innner half of the page, on almost every page) is filled with either white space, or code 'snippets'. No where in the book (though you can get it from the website, though that kind of defeats the purpose of my buying the book <g>) is there a full XML example, with DTD's, a Schema, or an XML Stylesheet. I was also disappointed by much of the text in the book. Too often text consists of '1. Type <?xml 2. Type a space 3. Type version="1.0" ?>', which, in my opinion (this is MY review isn't it?<g>) is a waste of ink. I should hope to think that most people are smart enough to follow a well commented example, and would prefer this than having to be hand-carried throughout.

I would have prefered to see more full blown examples, or even one FULL example in the book. Most of the topics covered don't go to far into depth, in examples (only snippets), or in coverage (about 1-2 pages per idea, such as 'Using Date and Time Types').

I recently purchased 'ASP in a Nutshell', from O'Reilly press, which accomplishes what it appears this book is trying to do with XML (and in my opinion, didn't pull off). I look forward to purchasing 'XML in a Nutshell' shortly.

This book would probably suit total beginners to XML, but I would recommend doing your initial research and learning on the web, and purchasing a more advanced book.

My initial impression of the Visual QuickStart series was very positive, but I don't think this way any more, and especially so after reading this book. The format works OK for a reference book, but it fails as a tutorial. There is no overall big-picture and conceptual understanding of XML. The author gives lots of excerpts from a single extended example that illustrate specific syntax issues, but working with these small pieces is very hard to follow. Smaller complete examples would have been much more helpful.

One very important topic - even for beginners - is completely missing. This is the DOM (short for Document Object Model) that lets the programmer use the different XML nodes in a programming language such as Visual Basic. We use XML at my workplace as a means of transmitting information from a SQL Database to code modules that can operate on the information, but there is nothing in this book that is helpful here.

There is also no explanation of why the different aspects of XML are significant in the real world. After reading this book, I got the impression that the main function of XML is to format data stored in XML files for end user presentation in HTML. But XML is much more important than this.

The book will be of some use - I will be referring to it for answers to specific questions. But if this was the only XML book I had read, I would not have any good grasp of the topic. For an excellent beginner's book on XML, read 'XML Step by Step' by Michael J. Young (now in a second edition). You can really learn something there.

Elizabeth Castro's previous book on Perl and CGI is a work of extraordinary clarity and value. The XML book tackles a much larger amount of material. It is necessarily more complex and aimed at a slightly more knowledgable reader. However, she succeeds in covering all the material in her usual clear, accurate and engaging way. The price can't be beat. You can buy a 1000-page book for $50 and get maybe 100 really good pages. You can buy this 200-page book for under $20 and get 200 really good pages! With Elizabeth Castro's books, there is no fluff, no filler, no needless repetition. Every page is worthwhile and adds value.

The best way to teach a beginner (myself) how to write code is to consistently illustrate the code with examples that can be modified and used in various circumstances. As she has stated in the introduction of the book, this is not an advanced book on XLM for developers but a project manager's book to understand the language of the developers when they are talking and even understand the code being developed. This book follows the same type of verbiage and examples from her previous book, HTML 4, so the transition from very easy. This book delves into the basics of XLM, DTD, Schema, XLST, Cascading Style Sheets and some more topics for the reader to discover.
The price of the book is affordable for anyone trying to step into the new World of coding language.
Have fun coding.

I had high hopes for this book, But I have come away disappointed. I used Castro's HTML book to learn that language, and I was favorably impressed. I found the examples in that book easy to walk through, and I felt they did a good job explaining basic concepts and procedures. I also liked the fact that Castro brought a designer's perspective to the subject.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for this book. I have spent the better part of a day on its chapter on XSLT, and I don't feel like I have gotten a handle on the subject. I feel about the same way about XML schemas. I think XML may simply be a subject that requires a programmer's, rather than a designer's perspective.

The book could use a complete rewrite, particularly its walkthroughs, which I have had trouble following and making sense of. If you need to write style sheets, schemas, or anything else beyond the simplest XML, you are probably better served by another book.

This is a decent reference guide, but uncomfortably out of date. While the author keeps her site updated for latest changes, why buy a book when you need to read the most up to date info online anyway? The book is an excellent bargain, but a free online tutorial (on oreilly for example) is a much better deal. The best intro to XML book I've read is still Beginning XML (WROX--wait for the 3rd edition if you can, the 2nd edition is still more recent and more useful than the VQ guide).